Improvement in ash-sifters



TEN

'JOHN H. GOODFELLOW, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN ASH-SIFTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,668, dated February9, 1875; application led April 23, 1874. l

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN H. GooDFELLow, of the city of Troy, county ofRensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ash-Sifters, of which the following is a description,reference being had to the accompanying drawing', in which- Figure 1 isa vertical longitudinal section of the front portion of a cooking-stove,showing my invention arranged in its hearth. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section of my invention, (in the line .fr a', Figs. 4, 5,and 6,) as shown in Fig. l, but removed from the hearth of the stove.Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same, as shown in Fig. 2, and havinga portion thereof broken away. Fig. 4L is a plan view of the same, asshown, Fig-2. Figs. 5 and 6 are plan views of detached pieces of myinvention. Fig. 7 is a perspective view, and Fig. 8 a similar view, of amodification of my invention as adapted to a removable ash-pan.

Like characters refer to like parts in the various figures.

My invention relates to that class of devices usually employed insifting coal and ashes, and is more particularly intended to be arrangedand-inclosed in the hearth of a stove, in such a manner as to receivethe ashes and cinders that fall or are emptied from the firechamber, andto sift the same before their removal from the stove-hearth.

In the drawings, forming part of this specication, A is a grate formedof bars c, running parallel with each other. Though this grating may beconstructed and arranged in any desired and suitable manner that willpermit the ashes to readily pass through it, and will retain the cindersduring its agitation, I prefer to have it formed with bars arrangedlongitudinally from front to rear, so as to offer the least resistanceto the shovel in removing the cinders therefrom. One end or edge of thisgrate is hinged to the swinging back-piece B, and when when this grateand swinging piece are made of cast metal, I prefer, on account of itscheapness and simplicity, to form the parts b and c of the hinges asshown, and cast them solid, respectively, with the pieces A and B. Thehanging and swinging piece B can be made with a plain solid surface, andmay be suspended at its top in any suitable manner; but I prefer,especially if made of cast metal, to form it with a grated or open-worksurface, d, similar to the grate A, and to suspend it in its `place bymeans of the lugs or projections e in the notches f formed in the rearend of the stationary sides O. The end or portion of the grate A,opposite the swinging back B, is supported, by means of the lugs g, Fig.`l, or the pins g', provided with friction-rollers h, Figs. 2 and 3, ator near the lower edge of the forward and inside ends of the sides C, orby a device equivalent thereto, in such a manner as to permit the grateAto be moved back and forth thereon. The front or side, D, opposite theswinging piece B, I construct and arrange so as to permit the forwardportion of the grate A to move freely to and fro beneath its lower edge;and in order to prevent the liability of the cinders or coarse particlesescaping or wedging in between the plate D and grate A, and interferingwith the free movement of the latter, I provide the lower edge of theside D with the fingers i projecting downward, and I prefer in aninwardlyinclined position between the bars, forming the front portion ofthe grate A. The sta-Y tionary sides O and D of the cinder-pan, whenarranged in the hearth of a stove, can be formed permanent with thecastings of such stove, or may be formed of pieces fastened in thehearth; but I prefer to make this device removable from the hearth ofthe stove, and when it is made removable from its place, and the sides Cand D are of cast metal, I prefer to construct such sides provided withthe fingers 11 in one piece.

In a devicev constructed and arranged as herein described, as of myinvention, it is obvious that when the grate A is moved forward itassumes a position similar to that shown in Fig. l, and when it is movedbackward it assumes a position shown in Fig. 2, and that the vibrationofthe siftin ggrate between those positions, and as indicated in thedrawings, is more effective in stirring up and sifting the cinders thanwould be the case were the sifting-grate caused to move to and fro insimply a horizontal direction.

In communicating motion to the sifting-v grate, as shown in this device,I employ the rod E, or an equivalent therefor, and When this device isarranged permanently in its place the rod E can be permanently attachedto the grate; but when this device is arranged in its place, so as to beremovable, the shakin g-rod E, or its equivalent, should be detachable,so as not to interfere with the removal of the cinder-pan.

What I claim as new, and of my invention,

l. The reciprocating siftinggrate A, snspended to the swingingback-piece B, and supported at the front, as described, so that whenreciprocated the front and rear ends thereof are alternately elevatedand depressed, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbeforedescribed and set forth.

2. The swinging back-piece B, to support the rear of a swinging andsliding grate, and in combination therewith, substantiallyr ashereinbcfore described and set forth.

3. The plate D, forming the front of the cinder-pan or hearth-pit,having the iin gers i projecting between the bars a ofthe swinging andsliding grate A, to clear the same of cinders, &c., in combination withthe grate A, substantially as hereinbefore described and set forth.

4. A cinder-pan or hearth-pit, provided with the stationary side Walls,G, and front Wall, D, the swinging back-piece B, and swinging andsliding grate A, in combination with the fire-chamber and ash-pit,substantially as hereinbefore described and set forth.

The above speciication signed by me this 24th day of November, 187 4.

JOHN H. GOODFELLOW.

In the presence of JNO. T. CARROLL, S. I. STRAND.

